Maroon 5 is Adam Levine (vocals, guitar), James Valentine (guitar), Jesse Carmichael (keyboard), Mickey Madden (bass) and Matt Flynn (drums).

High school mates in West L.A., Levine, Carmichael and Madden, first achieved recognition under the moniker Kara's Flowers.  Although the world seemed to open oyster-like for them - recording their first album with legendary producer Rob Cavallo (Green Day, Goo Goo Dolls) - their debut, The Fourth World, proved a commercial disappointment.  Kara's Flowers was given a release from the label, and its members mulled their collective future.  College became the intermediate answer, and while Madden stayed in Los Angeles to study at UCLA, Levine and Carmichael headed east to State University of New York.

The SUNY dorms yielded an epiphany.  "The halls were blasting gospel music and people were listening to stuff we'd never actually listened to, like Biggie Smalls, Missy Elliot and Jay-Z," recalls Levine.  "The Aaliyah record had come out around then, and we were just blown away." Until then, his songwriting influences had been The Beatles, Bob Dylan, Simon & Garfunkel and other artists he'd grown up with.  But now his musical landscape had experienced a tectonic shift.  Levine began to actively listen to Stevie Wonder and embraced a new singing style.  Carmichael started playing keyboards.  And the future suddenly looked bright again, in a very different light.

Fortified with a new attitude, a new sound and a new name, Maroon 5 quickly attracted attention from labels.  Octone Records, then a new indie label based in New York, signed the group, and in 2001 Maroon 5 entered the studio with producer Matt Wallace (The Replacements, Faith No More).  Melding their rock roots with their newfound love of R&B, the result was Songs About Jane.  Released in June 2002, it featured pop rhythms and classic soul melodies co-habiting with searing guitars and a powerful rock undercurrent.  On top of it all, Levine's expressive voice belted out tale after tale of an ex-girlfriend.

The album yielded a four chart-topping singles.  One of them, "This Love," earned Maroon 5 a Best New Artist Moon Man at the 2004 MTV Video Music Awards; went #1 at Top 40, VH1 and MTV simultaneously; and became the first song certified as a platinum download.  The other, "She Will Be Loved," scored a Grammy nomination for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocal.  The other two singles from Jane, "Harder to Breathe" and "Sunday Morning," reached the Billboard Top 20 and Top 40 respectively.  The band also snagged a Grammy nomination for Best New Artist, which it went on to win.  Between singles, Maroon 5 held serve for ten weeks in 2004, dominating the Modern Adult Contemporary, Hot AC and Adult Top 40 charts. To date Jane, has been certified quadruple platinum in the U.S. and has reached gold or platinum status in over 35 countries.

Following up with Acoustic (2004), a collection of unplugged songs, and Live - Friday, the 13th (2005), Maroon 5 earned a second Grammy for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal for the 2006 live recording of their international hit single "This Love." 

Also known for their commitment to the environment, Maroon 5 was honored at the 2006 Environmental Media Awards and recently pledged their time and energy toward Global Cool, a newly launched initiative to fight global warming by motivating a billion people worldwide to reduce their personal energy use.